Texans Long Snapper Bryan Pittman Suspended

Bryan Pittman was suspended by the NFL yesterday. For those of you going Who the hell is Bryan Pittman?, he's the long snapper for the Houston Texans. His job is to snap on punts and kicks.

Pittman is one of six players suspended for the rest of the season. His suspension was for taking Bumetanide, a diuretic that is often used as a masking agent for steroids. This is a violation of the NFL's steroids policy.

Anyone who has watched the Texans this season knows that they've had problems with the long snaps - one snap possibly cost the Texans three points on Monday night when Pittman had problems getting the ball back to holder Matt Turk. I don't know what that has to do with steroids, but the NFL might have done the Texans a big favor here.

Pittman hasn't been great this season. And there are lots of long snappers out there looking for a job, so it makes no sense to keep someone around who can't do the job. (The Texans have this thing with keeping unqualified people around when they can easily be replaced, like Ahman Green and Jacques Reeves and Anthony Weaver and Travis Johnson and Demarcus Faggins and Gary Kubiak and Richard Smith and David Carr and Dom Capers and Charley Casserly and any former member of the Denver Broncos.) Now the Texans have no choice but to find a replacement. - John Royal